AHRC Condemns Supreme Court Decision as Deathly for LGBTI Deportees

The Supreme Court made it easier Monday for the Trump administration to deport convicted criminals to "third countries" to which they have no previous connection.

In a brief unsigned order that did not explain its reasoning, the court put on hold a federal judge's ruling that said those affected nationwide should have a "meaningful opportunity" to bring claims that they would be at risk of torture, persecution or death if they were sent to countries the administration has made deals with to receive deported immigrants. This decision is tantamount to stealing basic rights that already exist.

As a result, the administration will be able to try to quickly remove immigrants to such third countries, including South Sudan, where there is war and famine. Though affected immigrants can still attempt to bring individual claims, this is too permissive and dangerous.

"The ramifications of the Supreme Court’s order will be horrifying; it strips away critical due process protections that have been protecting our class members from torture and death,” said Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, one of the groups that brought the legal challenge.

The three liberal justices on the conservative-majority court all dissented.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion that the court had stepped in "to grant the government emergency relief from an order it has repeatedly defied."

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Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, who has come under heavy fire from MAGA world for his decisions in the case, later clarified that people should have at least 10 days to bring a claim.

As Sotomayor referred to, Murphy recently said the administration had violated his previous order by flying eight migrants to South Sudan. The men are being held in a U.S. facility in Djibouti while the litigation continues.

The unnamed plaintiffs, Murphy wrote in his original April decision, are merely seeking "an opportunity to explain why such a deportation will likely result in their persecution, torture and/or death."

For LGBTQI+ people this is a sure death sentence. Over 30 countries in Africa and over 70 in the world criminalize LGBTQI+ people with harsh sentences, some including life in prison and even the death penalty. Not only will the U.S. be sending people to face persecution and torture, but unlike other deportees the LGBTI deportees will suffer added harms to include arbitrary and unlawful arrests, the violence criminalization licenses by state and non-state actors, and loss of their freedoms, all of this based on their sexuality and gender identity. If any families or friends are aware of any LGBTI person who is deported to an African country under these conditions, please contact AHRC at infoAfricaHRC@gmail.com